If there’s such thing as a get-right game in the Big Ten this season, it’s the next one up on the Buckeyes’ schedule.
WHO WHERE WHEN TV
Minnesota (6-8, 0-4 B1G) Schottenstein Center 6:30 p.m. FS1
The only team winless in conference play thus far comes to town at the perfect time for Ohio State, which runs the risk of a three-game slide if it can’t get past the Big Ten’s cellar-dweller Thursday. Not only would a loss represent Ohio State’s longest skid since 2020-21, but it would also mark the singular worst defeat of the season for the Buckeyes, who face a 6-8 Minnesota team that’s come up empty-handed in four previous attempts at a Big Ten victory.
That’s not to say Minnesota hasn’t come close. The Golden Gophers dragged Nebraska to overtime Saturday before coming up two points short. Four days prior, Minnesota lost by only three points to then-No. 14 Wisconsin. Those results are a big step up from Minnesota’s 19-point Dec. 4 loss to Purdue and subsequent 15-point defeat to Michigan on Dec. 8, but an L is an L all the same.
The Buckeyes know the feeling. They didn’t get any bonus points for
almost knocking off the No. 1 team in the country last Thursday, nor were they spared any sympathy for losing
to Maryland on the road without Zed Key (shoulder). Ohio State’s first set of consecutive losses is a setback for a team that seemed to be trending upward ahead of last week’s Purdue matchup, and Thursday’s 6:30 tip is a golden opportunity to respond.
“We've got, as always, an important week, and a Minnesota team that's playing very, very well and now is fully healthy,” Chris Holtmann said on
97.1 The Fan Monday. “And that's our sole focus right now.”
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